The Ties that Bind
by Metropolis Kid
Summary: Contains one-shot sequels to Cameron gets a Virus. Describes events that bring the Connors closer together. I hope you like them. I just got chapter three up. I'm not sure if they'll be more. Please R&R. Thanks. : PS. You might want to read Virus first.
1. November 12, 2007: The Bank Job

The Bank Job.

Disclaimer: I don't own any material contained within this story. All copyrighted content remains the property of the person, people, or organization that holds the copyright. This story is solely for fun.

Derek's POV:

This is it. The day my life changes forever, for the first time. I've been thinking about this day ever since I came back from the future. No, today isn't Judgment Day. It's the twelth of November 2007. It's an unimportant day in the course of human history, but it's very important to me and my family. What really irks me is that despite all the time I've spent thinking about today, I'm still not sure what I'm going to do. If I act, it will draw attention. That can put John in danger, but how can I stand by and do nothing? I have to prevent it. Not just for me; but for Kyle, especially for Kyle.

I get up and head for the door. John's coming down the stairs. He sees me. "Hey Derek, where are you going?"

"Just out for a walk. I want some fresh air." I'm not going to tell him the truth. There's no way I'm dragging my nephew into this. At lest, not anymore than I already have by staying here.

"Oh, okay. Hey, do you think you can pick up some food pellets while you're out? Scruffy's running low."

"Scruffy? Oh yeah, your mouse." I smile and lie. "Don't worry kid. I'll bring some back." I wont be coming back. Even if I survive this, it wouldn't be right. I can't draw anymore attention to the Connors. I shouldn't have even stayed with them in the first place.

Cameron's POV:

I hear the front door close, and I go downstairs to assess any potential threats. John is in the living room. As I walk over to him, I notice Sarah in the kitchen. I project an eighty-seven percent chance that the noise was simply caused by Derek leaving the house. Still, I ask John, "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I heard the front door close."

"Oh, Derek just went for a walk." John reaches back and rubs the rear of his neck. It's an action that I've come to a associate with nervousness.

John has been extra nervous around me since four nights ago, when I kissed him. I usually consider this insecurity of his to be endearing, but right now I find myself puzzled over Derek.

Most of the time Derek is easy to predict. I do not consider him to be a complicated man. However, today Derek has been agitated. Well, Derek is always agitated, but today he has been more so than usual. I find this particularly intriguing considering the fact that I've not done anything to annoy him today. I can only attribute his agitation to some internal struggle. I find this conclusion to be unsettling.

If Derek has been dealing with an internal struggle, it is likely over something that will directly effect the family. I determine to follow Derek and see what he is up to. I do not intend to allow him to place John in danger.

"John, I'm going to go out for a while. Stay in the house, okay?"

"Why? Is something wrong?"

"That is what I intend to find out. You just wait here, were it's safe. All right?"

"All right, but be careful."

I smile at John. I enjoy that he worries about me, even if it is illogical. I'm here to protect him not the other way around. "I'll be fine." I look over at Sarah and make sure that she isn't watching. Then I lightly kiss the top of John's head before I leave.

I follow Derek for nearly two hours. He has no idea that I am tailing him. As I told him before, he's pretty easy to follow.

I notice that as he is walking, He keeps checking his watch. He checks it an average of once every 6.47 minutes. It is obvious that he doesn't want to be late for something. He reaches a bank and checks his watch again.

Derek's POV:

I arrive at the bank twenty-seven minutes early. I sit down at a café across the street and order a decaf coffee. I sip my coffee while I wait.

Cameron's POV:

Derek goes over to a café across the street. He orders a coffee, although I notice that he drinks little of it.

He just stares at the bank, looks back at his watch and stares at the bank again. I notice that the frequency at which Derek checks his watch has increased. He is now checking it an average of once every 3.28 minutes. Whatever he is waiting for is going to happen soon.

Derek's POV:

I sit at the café for twenty minutes, then I head over to the bank. I enter and look at my watch. There are four minutes left before all hell breaks loose. I sit down in one of the chairs and continue waiting.

I look over at the line in front of the teller. She's there, dressed in the same flowery dress I remember. I have to protect her. I can't let it happen again.

Cameron's POV:

Once 19.39 minutes have passed, Derek heads for the bank. 3.58 minutes after he enters, armed men wearing black ski masks follow. I doubt that they are after the bank's stockpile of lollipops. I wonder if this is what Derek has been waiting for, a bank robbery? It has to be, but why does Derek know exactly when it is going to happen?

Derek's POV:

The robbers arrive right on time. There are seven of them. They're all wearing black ski masks, and their weapons range from pistols to shotguns, to one customized AK-47.

I'm unarmed. I didn't want to take a chance on someone seeing me with a gun and calling the cops. The robbers make us all move to the corner. I insure that she's behind me.

One of the robbers is left to guard us, while his accomplices perform their assigned tasks. The one left to guard us caries one of the two shotguns. It's so close. I almost reach out and grab it; but no, not yet. Wait until they cut power to the surveillance cameras. That's when they're furthest apart and paying the lest attention to the hostages. I've seen the video a hundred times. The last words spoken are "Got it." I wait for those words.

Cameron's POV:

The robbers are quick to close the shades. However, between my thermal vision and very acute hearing, I am still able to effectively monitor the situation. Derek allows himself to be led over to a corner with the other hostages. He doesn't make any attempt to resist.

I fail to understand what he's doing. Why wait for a robbery and allow yourself to be taken hostage? What is the point? What does Derek hope to gain from this?

Derek's POV:

I hear one of the criminals say, "Got it." And I make my move. I grab the barrel of the shotgun and push it away from the hostages, away from her. In the same movement I slug the guy caring it. He's surprised enough that I'm able to twist his shotgun out of his hands. Once I have control of the shotgun, I ram its butt into the man's head. I'm not sure if I manage enough force to kill him, but it doesn't matter. He drops to the floor and doesn't move. Unconscious or dead, he's out of the picture.

The other bank robbers take notice of the fight and aim at me. As I dive for the minimal safety offered by a nearby row of desks, I unload a blast into the chest of the robber who wields a shotgun. The robbers open fire.

At least their shots are directed at me, instead of the other hostages. I guess they figure that I'm the greater threat, and they're right. Although, I'm not in the best position, strategically speaking.

I'm still outnumbered five to one, and I've lost both the element of surprise and my foreknowledge of the event. We're off the script now. Still, I've been in worse spots. As the rounds impact the desks that I'm behind, I find myself grateful for two things. She's still okay, and for once my enemies aren't metals.

Cameron's POV:

When Derek goes for the shotgun, I finally understand what he is planning. He is attempting to play the hero and foil the bank robbery. He allowed himself to be taken hostage because he was waiting for the right moment to act, the moment when the robbers would be furthest apart and most distracted. Although I understand Derek's actions, his reasoning still eludes me.

I do not expect this kind of behavior from Derek. John sure, but not Derek. Derek is practical and not the kind of man to deliberately involve himself in a foolish battle and endanger the overall mission to stop Skynet.

I run a quick assessment of the situation. I project a twenty-three percent chance that Derek will succeed in foiling the heist, a fourteen percent chance that he will do so without any serious harm coming to the other hostages, but only a nine percent chance that Derek himself will survive this conflict.

My programming is telling me that I should just leave. Derek isn't essential to the completion of my mission and he did bring this on himself. I will admit that I do enjoy annoying him. However, I don't consider that to be enough of a reason to save his life and risk drawing attention to myself in the process.

The logical course of action is to return to John; and if Derek survives, report his foolishness to Sarah. Yes, that is the logical course of action; and if this were a couple of weeks ago, I would already be on my way. However, now things are different. Since I became infected with the viruses, everything is different. I find myself rooted to the pavement by an unfamiliar emotional attachment, not just to Derek, but to the other hostages as well. I consider the attachment to the other hostages to be even more illogical than the one to Derek. At least I know Derek, but the others are complete strangers. Yet, the attachment remains.

Derek's POV:

I'm just about to pop out and fire off another shot when the bank's front doors fly open. Cameron walks in, and before the robbers can even turn their guns on her, she drives a bullet into each of their heads. I'm shocked. Not by the fact that she killed them so quickly, that is what she was built for after all. I'm shocked by her appearance here. This robbery has nothing to do with her mission. Why is she here?

I ask, "Did John order you to do this?"

She replies, "No." I'm even more surprised. Her helping because John has given her an order to protect me is the only reason I can think of for her involvement.

I ask, "Then why?"

Cameron's POV:

He asks me why, and I don't know what to answer. I'm not even sure myself. These emotions are still new to me; and although I'm glad to have them, I'm not sure why they cause me to act the way they do.

I try to come up with an answer, even as a young girl breaks away from the other hostages, runs over to me. She raps her arms around my legs, and I feel another unfamiliar emotion pass through me. I don't know what to call it, but it is not unpleasant.

I just stand there. I am unable to determine what to do or say, then I hear sirens in the distance. They bring me out of my stupor. I turn to Derek. "We must go, now." He nods. I grab the little girl's arms and gently pull them away from my legs. Derek and I escape through the back of the building.

Once we are a few blocks from the bank, I pull Derek into a deserted ally and demand an explanation. "What were you doing there?"

He tries to avoid the meaning of the question. "I was going to open up an account."

I register some anger in my response, "Don't even try it! You knew that bank was going to be robbed. Somehow you knew. You went there to stop the robbery. You drew attention to yourself and increased the risk of John's detection. Now, I want to know why."

Derek's POV:

She wants to know why. Should I tell her? She's just a killing machine. Why should I tell her anything, but she did help. No, she more than helped. I probably wouldn't have been able to do it without her. She deserves some explanation. She's earned it.

"One of the hostages was my mother. When the robbers finish, they blow up the bank. All the hostages are killed; but the robbers, who are already out of the bank, use the confusion to escape."

I look at the machine and can't believe what I'm seeing. She looks almost, sorrowful. I swallow the lump that has been building in the back of my throat and continue, "My dad is a cop over at the two-five. He blames himself for my mother's death. He says that it's his fault because he wasn't there to protect her. He starts drinking, hard. Eventually he loses his job and custody of my brother and me. We're sent to live with our grandparents. They are nice people, but still…"

My voice trails off for a moment as I remember my life with my grandparents. It isn't all bad, but they really are to old to have to take care of two young boys. And Kyle cries so much. He cries for mom, and he cries for dad. He mourns not just the loss of our mother, but the loss of our family. It is a luxury that I can't afford. I'm the big brother. I have to be strong, strong enough for both of us. I take a deep breath and finish my explanation, "This day ruined our lives. In some ways it was even worse than Judgment Day. If there was any chance of changing the way that robbery went, I had to take it."

I stare at Cameron. I can't believe it, but I half expect a tear to run down her face. However, she just looks down for a moment. Then she raises her head and says, "Come on. We've got to get back. Sarah and John will be wondering where we are." So, I follow the terminator back to the house that I never intended to return to. I follow her back to my home.

(Well, what did you think? Please, let me know. Thanks.)


	2. November 15, 2007: First Date

Disclaimer: I don't own any material contained within this story. All copyrighted content remains the property of the person, people, or organization that holds the copyright. This story is solely for fun.

AN: I know I haven't done anything with the Virus AU for awhile. I kind of had writers block where that story was concerned. But I finally wrote another chapter. I hope you like it.

PS: This chapter is being told from John's point of view.

First Date.

It started out like any other normal day. My cyborg body guard had driven me to school in the car that she stole from a hit man she had killed. Well, it started out normal, for me. Yup, it was just another normal day. That is until I got to class, the alarm sounded and everything went off the wire.

It was a bomb. Someone had called up the school and told them that he planted a bomb, told them right were to find it too. All the students were rushed out. Cameron came up to me and led me back to her new car. She insisted that I get inside. I did, and we drove away.

I assumed that her protective protocols had kicked in when she heard about the bomb. I assumed that she was just getting me out of a potentially dangerous area. I assumed that she'd be taking me home. Well, you know what they say about assumptions, right?

We drove right past the street that would've taken us home. "Ah, Cam."

"Yes, John."

I point my thumb backwards. "Home's back that way."

"Yes it is. Your point?"

"Don't you think you should turn around?"

"Why?"

"Aren't we going home?"

"No. We have plans."

Okay, now I was getting nervous. Was Cameron taking me to some secret safe house to protect me. Was that her plan? Could a terminator have found out that I was at that school and planted a bomb to kill me? No, that didn't make sense. Terminators didn't use bombs. They liked to terminate their targets face to face.

Even if one had planted a bomb, he wouldn't have called up the school and told them where to find it. Why would anyone do that? It didn't make sense. The only motivation I could come up with, for such an action, would be to get everyone out of the school. I suppose that flushing out the students could have given a terminator a chance to snipe me, but that didn't make sense either. Why not just snipe me on my way in?

All the speculation wasn't doing me any good. I decided to ask Cameron what was going on. If she had a plan, she must've known, or at least had suspicions, about what was happening.

"Cameron, exactly what plans do we have?"

She simply stated, "We are going on a date."

Now that blew my mind. How could she have made plans for a date at a time when we were supposed to be in school? She couldn't. The only way she could've was if she knew that we were going to be sent out. It was then that a little light bulb went off in my head. The bomb had been planted by a terminator, after all. I was astonished. "You planted that bomb, didn't you? Do you know how many peoples' lives you've placed in danger?"

"At current count, four hundred and fifty-seven total. However, none of those lives have been endangered by the bomb. It's a dud. I constructed it to resemble an active bomb in every way. It might even fool members of a professional bomb-squad; but I assure you, it's completely harmless."

"Okay, why would you plant a defective bomb, and how did you sneak one into the school?"

"The answer to your second question is, I didn't sneak the bomb in. I made it while we were at school. It's amazing what you can make with a few things from the Chemistry and Metal Shop classes. As for your first question, the answer should be obvious. I wanted us to go on a date, and absent gets you on the radar."

"Wouldn't it have just been easier to go on a date when we weren't suppose to be in school?"

"And we would explain our going out, how? This is much better. Sarah thinks we're in school. School won't notice that we're absent. And even if Sarah does find out that we weren't in school, it won't be that hard to come up with a lie as to why we didn't come straight home. For example: I could've been worried, after the bomb threat, and taken you somewhere safe, until I had a chance to better assess the situation. I think Sarah would buy that, don't you?"

"Ah, probably; but it still seems like a lot of work to go through."

Cameron shrugged. "Oh, I didn't mind. I've had a lot of fun planning this out."

"So, ah, where are we going? The movie theater? Drive in? Or are we just going to cruise around until we see something interesting?"

Cameron let out a small laugh. "Oh, I don't think so. The movie theater and the drive in are a bit cliché, don't you think? And as for just driving around, as I've said, we have plans."

"Okay, so where are we headed?"

"You'll see when we get there."

"Great. Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Cameron laughed again. I thought it had an almost sinister edge to it.

My question was answered an hour and a half later, as I stared out the open door of an airplane traveling 13,000 feet above the earth's surface. Some old guy was telling me to remember to pull my cord before I reached twenty-five hundred feet. Oh no, no, no, no. I didn't even care any longer if Cam thought I was chickening out. There was no way that I was going to jump out of that plane, no way at all.

I ignored the old guy beside me and turned to Cameron. "This can't possibly be safe."

She placed a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, John. More people die every year from car accidents than from sky diving."

"Well, duh! More people drive cars than jump out of planes."

Cameron smiled. "I was speaking statistically. Only one out of every one hundred thousand jumps ends in a fatality. You'll be fine."

The old guy spun me around. "Hey stop talking to your girlfriend and pay attention. This stuff's important."

I replied, "Oh no it's not, because I'm not jumping. I'm going to stay right here," I pointed at the floor for extra emphasis. "until this plane lands."

I was spun back around. I was then face to face with Cameron, and she captured me in a devil of a liplock. She'd kissed me like that once before. It was right after we got back from Newton Crosby's, and the kiss had sent my head spinning. This one had much the same effect. I was just starting to get really into it when she pulled back.

She looked deep into my eyes and said, "John."

I managed a weak, "Yes."

She smiled and replied, "Time to fly." And then the plane was gone.

She had pushed me out! My life flashed before my eyes. I saw everything in a matter of seconds: learning to walk on a dirt drive way in a border town, my mom being taken away and sent to the asylum, my life with my foster parents, running from the different terminators sent back to kill me. I saw everything from the moment of my birth right up to where Cameron pushed me out of the airplane.

Her last words replayed in my head, and I realized that I heard her wrong. She didn't say, "Time to fly." She said, "Time to die." As I realized this, I stumbled for my rip cord; but I couldn't find it. And suddenly I could see Skynet's whole plan laid out in front of me. The AI had weaved it's plan with all the skill of a spider's web, everything interconnected, and invisible until you were caught.

The other "attempts" had been nothing more than distractions. This was Skynet's master plan all along: introduce me to a terminator that I would find attractive, let it gain my trust, and then at just the right moment it would spell my doom. I felt a certain kinship with Sampson and King Kong. They were both brought down by beautiful women too. I also felt a grudging respect for Skynet. It's plan had been perfect. Of course, what else would you expect from a computer originally built to play chess.

I'm not a terribly religious person; but as I realized that my death was inevitable, I decided to make peace with what ever higher power might be up there. It was then that I saw her. The angelic looking demon who had caused my downfall was flying straight at me.

How could she control her movement so well during freefall? She latched onto me, and I wondered if she was going to snap my neck in mid air. Although, I didn't know why she would. I was going to be dead soon enough, anyway. However instead of snapping my neck, she wrapped her legs around mine and pulled me into a sitting position. One of her hands went around my waist and firmly gripped my belt. She pulled me into her and held me there. Then she released her chute, and our bodies were jerked upward by the sudden deceleration.

She wasn't trying to kill me. How could I have let myself think such things about her? I recanted them all. She wasn't my damnation but my salvation. I wrapped my arms around her, and she kissed me the rest of the way down.

When we hit the ground, she broke the kiss. "See that wasn't so bad, was it?" I shook my head no. She unhooked the parachutes.

"Next time you really should pay attention to the instructor though." I nodded my head yes. She stood up and extended a hand. I took it.

As she pulled me up, I discovered that my knees felt like Jell-O. "Now, where do you think we should go eat? What's good after a skydive?" She paused for a moment, and her index finger tapped her chin. "I'm thinking seafood or maybe Mexican. Uh, we'll just decide on the way."

She grabbed my arm and started to lead me away from the landing sight. I frankly would've liked to of stayed there and waited for my stomach to catch up with the rest of me.

(Well, what'd you think. I really suck at writing romance and this was about the closest I could come without it sounding completely corny. Is it any good, or did I blow it completely. Please let me know. Thanks.

Have a good day, and God bless.

Metropolis Kid.)


	3. November 16, 20007: You're Who!

**You're Who?!**

**Disclaimer**: I don't own any material contained within this story. All copyrighted content remains the property of the person, people, or organization that holds the copyright. This story is solely for fun

**AN**: Okay, in one of my other fics, I have someone doing repair work on Cameron; and that got me thinking about Terminator Endoskeletons. Pretty soon, I was thinking of alternate ways to construct them. Then I started thinking about reasons for the alternate construction. Anyway, that's where this chapter came from. I hope you enjoy.

PS. This chapter is a little bit different from my last two. It's closer to the style in Virus.

John Connor was walking to school beside his bionic bodyguard. He was thinking about the day before, when he and Cameron had had their first date. It had been a terrifying experience; but John really did enjoy it, well most of it. Suddenly John was awakened from his reminiscing by the mailbox next to him exploding in a hail of gunfire. John immediately kissed the sidewalk. The other people on the street ran, and Cameron moved between John and the gunman.

Cameron instinctively reached under the back of her shirt, intending to pull her nine millimeter from her pants. She only to grasped air. _Shit! Stupid no guns allowed school! _Cameron ran through her tactical options. She took five rounds in the chest then reached down and ripped a piece of sharp metal from the mangled mailbox. She looked up at the power lines and took another four rounds while calculating trajectories. _It's a good thing I'm not a human, or this would really hurt_. Cameron took aim and let the metal fly.

It slashed a power line above the assailant. The line fell unto him. The assailant went into convulsions as the smell of burning flesh filled the air. After a moment, the gunman fell to the ground. The heat from the electricity charred off some of his skin, exposing the metal endoskeleton beneath. Cameron grabbed John, slung him over her shoulder and started to run. An internal timer counted down from one hundred and twenty seconds. They needed to find a way to escape before the terminator got back up.

"Cam, put me down." John sounded embarrassed.

"We have to hurry."

"I can run on my own!"

Cameron understood John's discomfort. It wasn't everyday that a male had to deal with his girlfriend carrying him over her shoulder. It must have bruised his ego somewhat. However, John's safety took priority. "Not as fast as I can carry you." She'd tend to her boyfriend's ego later.

Cameron saw a parked car. She opened the passenger's door and, rather roughly, tossed John inside. She slammed the door and ran to the driver's side. Her internal timer still registered eighty-seven seconds. _Plenty of time to hotwire this thing and get out of here._ It was then that Cameron felt a strong hand grip her and spin her around. She was face to face with the gunman. _Oh great, upgrades_.

The gunman threw a punch at Cameron's face. She ducked and jabbed him in the side. Then she locked her foot around his and pulled out his support. The other Terminator went down. _I guess that karate stuff I downloaded came in handy after all._

Cameron heard the car start. _Good, John must've hotwired it himself. _John reached out of the car. Unfortunately, the other Terminator was already getting back up. Cameron kicked him, as hard as she could, in the jaw. The car was on, but John was just sitting there. "John, go!"

"I'm not leaving without you."

"I need to hold him off." Cameron fell on top of the other terminator and immediately went to work on his face. She repeatedly punched the other terminator. The force of the constant blows even wore the flesh off her knuckles, but it wasn't enough. The other Terminator brought his hands up and pushed her off.

Cameron rolled and began to stand back up. She saw the car speeding away and couldn't help but feel hurt. Her programming told her that what John' leaving was for the best, but she still felt abandoned.

The other Terminator grabbed Cameron's head and slammed it into a nearby street lamp, scraping off part of her skin. "Where is John going?"

"Get scrapped!" Cameron saw the car pulling out of sight; but she wasn't going to betray John, even if he did leave her. Then she saw it pull a tight u-turn and accelerate towards her.

The car smashed into the other terminator at top speed, knocking him back a good thirty yards. The passenger door flew open, and John extended his hand. He smiled. "Come with me if you want to live."

Cameron smiled too, remembering when she said that to him. She grabbed his hand and pulled herself in. She wanted to scold him for coming back for her. Instead she pulled him into a brief but deep kiss. After a moment, she broke the kiss and not quite yelled, "Gun it."

John did just that. However as he tried to drive past the enemy terminator, it latched onto the back of the car. John managed to drag the thing a for fifty yards, but then it sunk it's feet in and lifted up the rear of the car. "Just our luck, we would end up with a vehicle with rear wheel drive!"

The terminator roughly slammed the back of the vehicle down, destroying it's rear axle. He ran over to the driver's side door and tore it off. "John Connor, you will be term…" The cyborg didn't get to finish. Something grabbed him from behind, hefted him and threw him away.

John stared at the new player. He looked about John's age with green eyes, high cheek bones and brown hair. "Who?"

The kid shrugged. "Jacob Con…" The enemy terminator had recovered. It tackled Jacob to the ground then grabbed his arm and broke it off halfway between the elbow and wrist. Jacob got his feet up and kicked the terminator off him.

John and Cameron both exited the vehicle. They ran. Cameron looked over her shoulder and saw the broken arm. As the sunlight passed through the exposed tip, it cast a small rainbow. _It looks like the kid's skeleton is made out of diamond. _Cameron corrected herself. _No, not diamond. Diamond wouldn't have broken so easily. It must be some form of crystal._

Cameron looked around. There were no other cars nearby. It was doubtful that they were going to outrun the enemy terminator. _No flight? I guess that means fight is our only option. _Cameron pulled John over to a dumpster. "Stay here."

"Where are you going?"

"To help the newbie." She looked over at the kid who was doing his best to fight off the enemy terminator one-handed. "Looks like he needs it; and, maybe between the two of us, we can take that terminator apart." Cameron rushed back into the fray. John watched from behind his dumpster.

Cameron grabbed the terminator and spun him around. He went flying and impacted a telephone poll. It toppled over. As the wires, hissed, sparked and danced, Cameron did her best to press her advantage.

Jacob jumped over and grabbed hold of one of the downed lines. John assumed he was going to try to jam it into the enemy terminator. Instead, Jacob stuck it to his damaged arm.

Jacob let the energy course through him and used it to regrow his crystalline arm. He directed the regrowth so that, instead of a hand, the arm tapered off to a fine point.

Cameron was having some trouble with the terminator. He'd managed to pin her against a brick building. It was then that Jacob came up behind the enemy terminator. He grabbed the machine's head and pulled it back, so that it was bent over and looking straight up. With a yell, Jacob brought his regrown arm up and over. He jammed it into the machine's eye socket and shish kebabbed the thing's chip.

The terminator twitched, then Jacob pulled out his arm and let the enemy drop to the ground. Jacob ran over to Cameron. "Are you all right?"

"A little banged up, but not too worse for the wear."

"Good." Jacob looked down at his arm. More to himself then Cameron, he said, "I really hate this part." Jacob grabbed his regrown arm with his hand and held it while he brought his knee quickly up. Jacob grimaced when he shattered the end of his regrown arm. He let out a suppressed cry and began walking back to the power lines.

John, who had left his hiding spot as soon as the terminator got impaled, rushed over to Cameron. "Are you okay!"

Cameron's voice took on a sweet and reassuring tone. "Yes, John, I'm fine."

Assured of his girlfriend's health, John turned to Jacob. The kid had just finished growing a crystalline skeleton hand at the end of his damaged arm. John asked, "What are you?"

Jacob grinned. "What, don't you recognize the family resemblance? I'm your son."

"What!"

Jacob chuckled. "Oh, come on. It shouldn't be that surprising. You sent your father back to be your first protector. This kind of completes the circle, don't you think?"

John looked nearly dumbstruck. "Wait a minute! If you're my son, who's the mother?" Jacob glanced over at Cameron. Her and John looked at each other.

John asked, "Can you…"

Cameron shook her head, an utter look of disbelief on her face. A barely audible, "No." escaped her mouth.

"Then how?"

Jacob smiled. "Really guys, you're John and Cameron Connor. You do the impossible on an almost weekly basis. When the two of you set your minds to something, there's very little you can't accomplish, even having a kid together."

Jacob's parents both looked at him, their jaws hanging down. "But how?"

Jacob answered, "My body is made of a hardened crystal endoskeleton under living human tissue, tissue cloned from John Connor. My programming is a copy of Cameron's virus infected one, but with all the memories wiped before it was installed in my crystalline neural net."

Cameron asked, "Why a crystal endoskeleton?"

Jacob replied, "Isn't it obvious? Crystal grows. If I was made with a coltan endoskeleton, you would've both been stuck with a child who was always the same, physically. But with crystal, they were able to make me the size of a newborn, and you two could have the full experience of raising a child. Besides, although it isn't quite as durable as coltan, the crystal does have some advantages. For example, I can regenerate damaged portions of my endoskeleton. At least, as long as there's an available energy source."

(Well what did you think of chapter three? Review are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Have a good day, and God bless.

Metropolis Kid.)

**AN: **Okay, I try to respond to all of my reviews. I apologize if I missed you for some reason, but I do try. The thing is Metroid criticized me for clogging up the end of my chapters with review replies and making them seem longer then they are. So I've started messaging my reviewers instead. The problem is that some of my reviewers are anonymous. So what I've decided to do is, respond through messages to anyone who has an account or an Email that I can see. If they don't I'll leave my response at the end of the next chapter. If you do have an account or I know your email and you would rather your response be posted at the end of the chapter than sent to you as a message, let me know and I will post it at the end. I'm just trying to make this as pleasant an experience as possible.

(To J: Thanks for the review. The Newton Crosby refferance is from "Cameron Gets a Virus." In that fic she gets a virus, obviously, and the Connors take her to Newton Crosby's house hoping that he can help fix her. Incase you Don't know, Newton Crosby was the cybernetic expert who built Johnny 5 in the movie Short Circuit.

PS. As you can see, I did expand the story, sort of. I gave John and Cameron a kid.

(To Matt: Thanks for continuing to review. I'm glad that you're still enjoying the story. I'm not sure if I'd exactly call it paranoia. I mean, Cameron did push him out of an airplane. That's bound to mess with anyone's head.

PS. thanks for the bonus points.)


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